Students can't upload assignment files

Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -
Number of replies: 16

I am helping a friend out with his Moodle installation... we are both new to Moodle.  Version 1.9.9 has been setup on the server.  Courses can be created, students can be enrolled in the courses, but when a student tries to upload a file for an assignment, the web browser just hangs.  We have tried multiple web browsers with no luck.  It doesn't matter if it's an advanced upload or a single file upload.

When administrators upload files (not via an assignment upload), there is no problem... so I don't think it is a problem with the PHP or Apache settings.  This definitely appears to be a problem we are having with the Assignment module specifically.

Specifically, here's the process that is causing the browser to hang...

Student goes to the course and then clicks on the assignment.  Student then selects a file from their computer to upload and clicks the "Upload this file" button.  The web browser just sits there... appearing to be trying to load the next page.  If you wait long enough, you either get a web browser error message stating that the page can't be viewed, or you get a blank screen.

We've been over just about every setting in the system, but can't seem to get it to work.  I'm hoping we're just missing something obvious.  Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.  smile

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

Since admin can upload, it can't be no space on the server.

Have you checked the file size limitation? That is set at the site level, the course level, and the assignment level.

Typically, a too large file returns an error message containing the word "parameter," not a blank page.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

Thank you.. we appreciate your help on this.  smile

We've checked all those settings... in fact we went into the PHP and Apache settings a while back to increase the maximum size at the server level to 25MB.  Though, we've been trying files of all sizes from just a couple KB up to many MB with the same results.  Could there be any restrictions on file types maybe?  (I know we've at least tried .txt .doc and .pdf files.)

I've just verified that at the site level (under Security > Site policies) it is currently set to Server Limit (25 MB).  The course is also set to 25 MB.  And I also just verified the assignment to also be at 25MB max.

In addition to uploads working as expected for admins (under Administration > Files), there is also a Joomla installation on the server which doesn't seem to have any problems.  We are only having problems with trying to upload assignments, even when you give admins assignment upload rights.  This seems to be a very strange problem to us.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

Hi Tim,

Are you saying that admins, teachers, etc, also cannot upload files via an Assignment? But they can via the admin > files in a classroom?

I wonder if there is an anti-virus or some other filtering mechanism taking action. That would be server stuff, about which I am too ignorant to be helpful.

Try setting up an Advanced uploading of Assignments module and see if admin/instructor can upload via the grade button.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

That's correct... no one can upload via an Assignment.  However, when an admin clicks on a course and then chooses the "Files" option in the Administration box on the side panel, they can upload a file with no problem at all.  Very strange.

Anyway... I just tried the "Grades" option from the Administration box, selected one of the Advanced uploading assignments, and hit the "Grade" button for one of the test students.  I input the requested information and selected a "Response file" to upload.  After clicking the "Upload this file" button I got the same results as with trying to upload an assignment.  It hangs for a long time and then the web browser displays it's usual error message.  In Firefox it is the "The connection was reset" message.

Regarding the anti-virus/filter stuff, I will ask the server admin to see if he can figure anything out.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Marco Aurelio Miranda -

Hey Tim,

   I know this was a long time ago but did you find out what the problem was? I'm getting the same error on a CentOS 5.5 + Apache 2.2.3 + PHP 5.1.6 + Moodle 1.9.19+


Looking forward to hearing from you.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

One more interesting note... I thought I'd check to see what happens if you "forgot" to select a file from your computer and simply just clicked the Upload this file button.  I got more of the same results with the web browser hanging.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

Just heard back from the server admin... he confirmed that there is nothing with the anti-virus or any other filters on the server that would be causing problems.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

Tim,

I'm about out of ideas, so I hope someone more experienced comes along.

When a student touches an assignment, for example by starting the upload process, Moodle creates a folder for the student's work in files. The path would be files > moddata > assignments> mysterious number > user id # > filename, as below.

moddata/assignment/1369/490/GenericFile.docx

It might be worth knowing whether the attempt to upload is generating this folder, even if nothing gets into it.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

Here's an item from The Administration FAQ. Might be worth turning on debugging.

Why is a page blank, or half missing?

A blank page, or a page that seems to have half missing, is normally a sign that an error occurred. If (as is recommended on production systems) you have display of error messages turned off, it can be very hard to understand what is going on.

The solution is to turn on the debugging options temporarily. Then, when you go back to the problem page, you should see the error message. Once you had finished solving the problem, remember to turn debugging off again.

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

Looks like at some point we already turned the debugging on... so we're still either getting a blank screen or a browser error page.

I'm suspecting the form POST related to the file upload is timing out for some reason, or maybe the server is never receiving the form POST.

I know a small amount of PHP, but I'm not really a PHP expert, so I don't know what to look for in the code (or where to look) to see if I might be able to figure anything else out.

Thank you again for all your help!  smile

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

Hi Ben,

Really appreciate you taking the time to provide your input.  Thank you!  smile

I will have someone with access to the FTP for the site verify whether the folder is being created.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Mary Cooch -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers Picture of Translators

Tim ( I follow Ben around  btw smile ) just to say that you don't need your admin to check via ftp  -the moddata folder resides in the course itself - so if you go to your course and click on files in the administration block, go and see if there is a folder called moddata and if it has anything in it.

Hi Ben smile

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Tim Johnson -

Just FYI... There does appear to be an empty folder for one of the users who attempted  to upload, but not the other.  I think the user id of the folder that is there corresponds to the admin user... I'm guessing that is due to the admin trying to add a file while "grading" the test student's assignment.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

In the assignment folder, in the user's folder, an uploaded response file creates a folder titled "responses."

Thus, moddata/assignment/1369/490/responses/StephanieLevinRec.doc

Hi, Mary! smile

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In reply to ben reynolds

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by ben reynolds -

Not that it's much help in this situation, but you can find a user's id # by hovering over their name. Right here, for example, I am

http://moodle.org/user/view.php?id=259778&course=5

id=259778

which makes me almost in the first 1/4 of the million people who are registered at moodle.org, something I did not know until now.

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In reply to Tim Johnson

Re: Students can't upload assignment files

by Mary Kelly -
I have the same issue. Anyway your post helps me a lot....
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